Background on PE4ME

PE4Me is a local childhood obesity prevention program developed by South Orange County Pediatrician Mike Weiss.  He noticed an alarming and growing trend in his young patients in his private practice: Increasing cases of childhood obesity.  He and his wife wondered what they could do to help children eat better and exercise more. Dr. Weiss started meeting with physical education teachers, healthcare providers and the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) to discuss his vision for a comprehensive children’s fitness program. 
 
With 35 percent of Orange County youth – nearly 190,000 children – overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, the need for a physical education and health solution for local youths is clear. To address this critical need, Dr. Weiss, a past board president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, created PE4Me to provide students in grades 7-12 with healthy lessons for lifetime fitness and nutrition. In 2004, “PE4Me” was born in three Orange County schools with 68 children participating.
 
As PE4Me began to grow and succeed, it caught the attention of St. Joseph Health System (SJHS), which partnered with three of its hospitals in Orange County to make the school-based program a reality. Along with the St. Joseph Health System Foundation, Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, and St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton provided the funding to expand the program to 100 local school over the next three years.